Although I got back from my recent trip to France and India about 8 days ago, I haven't gotten a chance to post much. Our India trip turned into a lot more of an adventure than we've undertaken in several years. We really enjoyed it.

But on arriving home I found an email from a close friend telling me that another colleague of ours had died the night before. I worked with Bob for about 8 years and helped him start a company in 2003. He had not been healthy for the past year or so. The same night I noticed that Bubba the black lab had lost a lot of weight while we were away and seemed to be in pain. Bubba was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. We medicated him with prednasone (a miracle drug) for the past few days so we could spend some quality time spoiling him, but the disease caught up to the drug fairly quickly and we had him euthanized this afternoon.

All this while we were rushing to prepare for our next trip. Tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam. We will spend a week and a half in the Netherlands then 5 days in New York before heading home. Normally I would be excited about our upcoming trip, but there is no joy in our house this evening.

We did have a very exciting trip to India and I took a lot of photos of the forest we tromped through and the prehistoric cave paintings near Pachmarhi. We also visited a number of early Hindu and Buddist temple sites near Bhopal. Our Netherlands trip will bring us to a number of neolithic remains. Maybe in time I will regain some enthusiasm for posting here.

The same night I noticed that Bubba the black lab had lost a lot of weight while we were away and seemed to be in pain. Bubba was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. We medicated him with prednasone (a miracle drug) for the past few days so we could spend some quality time spoiling him, but the disease caught up to the drug fairly quickly and we had him euthanized this afternoon./i>

Saying goodbye to a cherished pet seems to be so much harder than witnessing uncles and aunts leave the earth forever. At least, humans look like they are old and nearing the end. Animals seem to be able to fake us out - or we may fake ourselves out.

I'm very sorry for your loss of a beloved pet and an esteemed colleague.

{{{SG and SGSpouse}}}

I look forward to seeing you post again when your heart has begun to heal and you've got your mojo back. I guess it sounds strange, but I'm fond of you and the others who post here.

PS--I think we'll overlap in NYC--I'll be there 11/4-11, my husband joining me over the final weekend. We're going to the Django Reinhardt festival at Birdland on Saturday night 11/10. The festival is 11/6-11 if you have the heart for good music in an intimate and historic venue for jazz lovers.

<< All this while we were rushing to prepare for our next trip. Tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam. We will spend a week and a half in the Netherlands then 5 days in New York before heading home. Normally I would be excited about our upcoming trip, but there is no joy in our house this evening.

We did have a very exciting trip to India and I took a lot of photos of the forest we >>

I'm always surprised to see my liberal friends, usually so concerned about global warming, gratuitously traveling about the world in jet transports for no good reason.

I'm always surprised to see my liberal friends, usually so concerned about global warming, gratuitously traveling about the world in jet transports for no good reason.

I think you've mentioned this before.

I'm here in Amsterdam supporting an electrical engineering professional conference, The European Microwave Conference. I will be training professional from around the world about formation and operation of chapters located all around the world. We have about 170 chapters all over the globe. Many of the professional activities and meetings that result from these efforts will stimulate research that will directly contribute to solutions to dwindling energy supplies.

<<SP:I'm always surprised to see my liberal friends, usually so concerned about global warming, gratuitously traveling about the world in jet transports for no good reason.>>

I think you've mentioned this before.

I'm here in Amsterdam supporting an electrical engineering professional conference, The European Microwave Conference. I will be training professional from around the world about formation and operation of chapters located all around the world. We have about 170 chapters all over the globe. Many of the professional activities and meetings that result from these efforts will stimulate research that will directly contribute to solutions to dwindling energy supplies.